The Baltic Sea as a Maritime Highway in International Multimodal Transport

Abstract

The introduction of the Sulphur Emission Control Areas is expected to lead to increasing costs in maritime transportation with a high impact on Short Sea Shipping in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. As a consequence a modal shift in multimodal container transport might occur towards road and rail freight transport, which is related to negative ecological effects. Simultaneously, a downside risk of the North Range harbours exist in international container transport due to their competition with the south European harbours. Based on a case study it will be analysed how and to what extent the new frame conditions influence the container business and what consequences can be expected.